John Brennan Says There Was No Smoking Gun: Is He Right?

According to the LA Times, John Brennan, the senior Obama counterterrorism official, declared there was “no smoking gun” in the Christmas Day Detroit bound bombing. Putting aside the frantic phone calls from the father — pardon me, Mr. Brennan, but that’s a big deal. There was no smoking gun found after Pearl Harbor or 9/11. There is almost never a smoking gun. There was no smoking gun in 26 of the 28 terrorist attacks foiled by the US since 9/11 (Abdulmutallab and Richard Reid were stopped by dumb luck). We built the post-9/11 security system because we never expect to have a smoking gun, because we expect the administration to connect-the-dots.

Then Brennan made it worse. He continued the White House line of placing responsibility anywhere but with the White House. “There was no piece of intelligence that said, ‘This guy’s a terrorist. He’s going to get on a plane,'” Brennan said. Later, he added: “It was the failure to integrate and piece together those bits and pieces of information.” Sorry, that’s not an explanation. It is not enough to blame the system and human error. There will always be human failures and system failures. Rather than holding people accountable after the fact; fixing the problem after the fact; and then moving on to the next issue; we would rather that the president just act like a war president 24-7-365.

James Jay Carafano, a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, is The Heritage Foundation’s Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, E. W. Richardson Fellow, and Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. Read his research.

So John Brennan's idea of a "smoking gun" would be AFTER the plane blows up? These Liberals are trying to take us back to a pre 9/11/2001 world and they are going to give the terrorists exactly what they want – The United States begging for Its Life.

There were so many signs regarding this latest bombing that only an incompetant and purposeful ignoring of the "war on terror" could explain how this kid got on that airplane. Young muslim, paid cash, one way ticket etc. – what else do you need to know (not to mention all of the other information that the intell groups held). Of course, after Obama and Pelosi's ranting at the CIA and the refusal to admit to the "war on terror", what would you expect. Didn't Obama take charge of "intel" after he threw the CIA under the bus? Wonder how many more incidents and deaths will occur before this administration decides that it better address national security while trying to destroy this nation?

Ozzy6900, yes, rather bleak outlook although not inaccurate.We as a nation are , in a word "unsafe", and in the path of great peril.Sadly in need of a LEADER! One could make the observation that the indtification of whomever the "mystery man" assisting this half cocked fool with the crotch bomb, will lead embarrassingly far up the global fin food chain.This incident will most surely unfold badly, it is more than we fear.

Not for nothing, in listening to Brennen yammer away on all the Sun shows, what heard in his delivery was real fear and a need to persuade the cake eaters into buying the Co line. He souded like someone under great direct pressure coupled with palpable fear. You know, like Rong was standing there just beyond camera shot giving him the ol'stinkeye with every attempt @ making up look like down, right seem wrong and the rest of the admin drivel. Napolitano makes Barney Fife look like Churchill.

Brennan is just another idiot, like Napolitano, appointed by "the community organizer". So exactly what else would you expect? If an ex-con was president(hey, nothing is out of the question as far as the lunatic left is concerned), who do you think he/she would be appointing? RIGHT! People who THINK just like they do! DUH!!!! Incompetents appoint incompetents…always have, always will. Very simple really and exactly why we are travelling backwards faster than the speed of sound!

The euphemism "smoking gun" doesn't seem to fit the argument. A gun smokes after it is fired. Are we to wait until someone shoots at us before we take action and pray they keep missing? Is this how Obama expects the secret service to protect him?

We need to be looking for guns with a bullet in the chamber and a finger on the trigger. In this case a respected bank executive called the embassy and warned US officials about his son. The son then purchased a ticket with cash and didn't check baggage for an international flight.

John Brennan the smoking gun has always ben there during war on terror in reality you have to look for it, but this is cover up for the lack of leadership and security responce by our presdent and homeland security,and you need to face reality of your statement some heads should roll. Unfortunate we are at war with muslim al qaeda jihadist terrorist we must always be on guard of our security

[…] THE DEATH OF MODERATE DEMOCRATS Heritage Foundation:New TSA Procedures Are Not The Answer and John Brennan Says There Was No Smoking Gun: Is He Right? and Pop Quiz Mr. President: Why Did You Fail? and Smarter Security, Not More Cash, Key for Travel […]

What I don't understand is, when an agency gets a lead, it can't just type it into a database that airlines.etc. could type in name, passport, etc. and see if the person requires additional screening or obvious rejection? The airlines wouldn't need access to the rationale, just the bare bones to note that they need to pay attention.

[…] THE DEATH OF MODERATE DEMOCRATS Heritage Foundation:New TSA Procedures Are Not The Answer and John Brennan Says There Was No Smoking Gun: Is He Right? and Pop Quiz Mr. President: Why Did You Fail? and Smarter Security, Not More Cash, Key for Travel […]

I fail to understand how John Brennan can honestly believe that there was no "Smoking Gun" when all the red flags were raised in this matter. A person traveling from Yemen, the terrorist hot spot of the world, paying cash for his ticket, one way to the U.S., seated in the best spot in the aircraft to cause the most damage and bloodshed should have alerted the TSA and action taken before he was alowed to board the plane. Also, had there been a Military Air Marshall aboard, I am certain the man would have been watched closely. Why do we have Military Air Marshalls on planes traveling from point to point in the U.S. and apparently none traveling from Yemen?

Terrorist's father called embassy. Terrorist paid cash for ticket. Terrorist boarded plane without luggage. Terrorist's name was on a list of potential terrorists. John Brennan was briefed earlier of brief-bombing potential.

Most of these people in the Government and around Obama are very foolish people, stupid and just about useless to run a country. It sure would be nice if we could take everyone of them and ship them to Yeman, Iran or to the Middle East where the terriosts are. Then they can be around there friends. Yes Profile, do you see White Americans trying to blow up Planes or Buildings etc. I do not think so Profile the heck out of them. There is no backbone in this government, know no spine left. I believe it is only going to get worse.

Brennen is just another Obama apologist. Just like Jan Napolitano, whose first comments about the failed Dec 25th terrorist attck was, "the system works". One wonders what the motivation was for Ms. Napolitano to have reversed her initial position on the following day, saying "the system didn't work in this case".

Mr. Obama's initial remarks on this incident was that it was the work of an "isolated extremist", despite the confession of the perpitrator himself that he was trained and assisted by an al Quaeda team located in Saudi Arabia and despite the claims from al Quaeda itself claiming responsibility for the failed attack.

I don't know how many others have noticed, but I am finding that the words "terrorist" and "terrorism" are creeping back into the comments of Mr. Obama and his administration. These words, once banned from usage are now unavoidably being used again. I believe this is a good thing. If we can't even bring ourselves to use the term, how in the world can we be expected to fight it or prevent it? The time for employing euphamisms and political correctness is over. The safety of the American people is far more important than political correctness. If others are offended by this, too damn bad.

[…] to the LA Times, John Brennan, the senior Obama counterterrorism official, declared there was “no smoking gun” in the Christmas Day Detroit bound bombing. (Where is the pool that Obama is finding these inept […]

Well, we have now heard again from Mr. Brennan in the news yesterday saying he "took responsibility" for the security failures that led to the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt. Mr Obama himself, "took responsibility" for this same failure, saying once again, "the buck stops here".

Talk is cheap. What I want to know is, what's the penalty for "taking responsibility"? It doesn't appear that there is any penalty. Ask any soldier what the penalty is for falling asleep on duty, or abondoning your post in time of war. You will then find out what the military means by "taking responsibility". The minimum penalty in such situations would be a court martial and a stretch in Levenworth, or worse, the firing squad.

When the story came out about the abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Grab, there was quite a bit of concern over who was "responsible" some soldiers went to jail and some officers were demoted and/or forced to 'retire'.

So, what is the penalty for Mrs. Brennan and Obama, now that they have admitted to "being responsible"?

[…] been this administration’s top priority. Indeed, as Heritage Foundation analyst James Carafano has observed: It is not enough to blame the system and human error. There will always be human failures […]

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